Knicks coach David Fizdale travels across the globe to jumpstart relationship with Kristaps Porzingis

David Fizdale said he was going to be different, and so far he’s keeping his word.

The New York Knicks new head coach, along with his wife Natasha Sen-Fizdale, traveled to Kristaps Porzingis’ hometown of Liepaja, Latvia, this week to visit the center piece of the Knicks’ franchise.

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Porzingis underwent ACL surgery in Europe back in February and has been rehabbing ever since.

David Fizdale was introduced as the new Knicks coach in early May. (Mary Altaffer / AP)

“We’ve talked about his rehab,” Fizdale told Latvian television network LSM, per ESPN. “We’ve talked about how we want to play, our style of play. Talked a lot about the culture that we’re building. We want to make sure that he comes back strong and healthy (from his ACL surgery) and we don’t want to rush it.

"We’ve had some really good conversations. We talked about the kids we drafted (Kevin Knox and Mitchell Robinson). I’ve tried to make sure that he’s — we’ve been in communication on every decision that we’ve made.”

Fizdale is making sure he goes the extra mile with Porzingis after things didn’t end too well with the Knicks' last administration.

At the end of the 2016-17 season, Porzingis skipped his exit meeting. He wasn’t too fond of former president Phil Jackson and ex-coach Jeff Hornacek. The Knicks were a complete mess and he wanted no part of it.

In trying to implement his culture into the Knicks, Fizdale felt it was necessary to make the trip and extend an olive branch, despite the fact that Porzingis isn’t expect back until at least December.

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“The NBA is a small world and you kinda know people from afar, but this trip is more about getting to know him intimately, know his family, know where he’s from, and kinda get to see what made him ‘Kristaps,’” Fizdale said.

This is the first time a member of the Knicks organization has traveled to Latvia.

Carron J. Phillips has been the Sports, Race & Social Issues columnist for the New York Daily News since 2017. In 2016, he was named Journalist of the Year by the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists. Phillips is an alum of Morehouse College (2006) and Syracuse University (2011).